Mechanism for applying caps to bottles.



T. A. NISSINEN.

MBOHANISM FOR APPLYING CAPS To BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.2,1911.

Patented N ov. 17, 1914.

Fig. f.

lll/[lill .216 olmsaz TED STATES PATENT OFFIQFL.

TOIMI A. NISSINEN, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICK G. ZINSSER, OF HASTINGS-UPON-HUDSON, NEW YORK.

MECHANISM FOR APPLYING CAPS TO BOTTLES.

Application led November 2, 1911.

.ject the provision of a novel combination of elements adapted to co-act to effectively clamp metal caps upon the heads of bottles in such manner as to reduce the percentage of what are known to the trade as leakers.

Leakers are bottles which have been imperfectly stoppered; the closure not being gas tight. They may result from imperfectly designed Stoppers, poor cork or other 'sealing material, malformed or broken bottles, or inefficient capping mechanism. Such Stoppers as those herein shown, when applied by my novel sealing mechanism, are

adapted to form closures capable of successfully withstanding relatively high pressui-es, z'. e. one hundred and fifty pounds, or more, provided that the bottles be properly shaped and that the cork or other sultable sealing material used be of reasonably good quality.

Furthermore, the said mechanism is adapted to apply said caps to bottles of somewhat different heights and diameters of lip without necessitating the provision of a compensating device of any description whatsoever; a. feature of really great importance, since compensating devices of i'arious descriptions are usually costly, bulky and more or less apt to get out of order.

These and other objects of my invention will be hereinafter set forth together with important features of construction and combinations of elements, which latter will be more particularly referred to in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have exemplified one form of my invention, like rc ference characters designate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a section of a portion of a capping head constructed in accordance with Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

Serial No. 658,074.

the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of said head with the bottle guide and guide nut removed therefrom to expose the throat. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line III-III of Fig. l. Fig. l is a view similar to Fig. l, but showing a bottle and a cap just being applied thereto.

The mechanism illustrated, or a suitable modification thereof, is adapted to be applied to many capping machines now in use, being used in lieu of the 'parts in such machines which correspond to those shown in the drawings. It is however more particularly designed for use with the novel stopper illustrated in Figs. l and et. The said stopper comprises a metal cap, broadly designated 1, within which may be placed a shive 2, of cork, or the like, in the usual manner. The metal cap consists of a body portion 3, preferably flat and table-like in contour, around which is disposed an integrally vformed guttered or channeled flange; the edge 4 of this fiange being upturned for reasons hereinafter more particularly set forth. This stopper before being deformed or distorted by the ap )lication of the same to a bottle is adapte to be received within, and preferably to be held in )lace by frictional engagement with, the Jaw or throat blocks 5 within the sleeve 6. The formation of these blocks is somewhat peculiar and also, it is believed, distinctively novel. In the form of device exemplied, three floating jaw blocks are provided, so disposed with respect to each other as to constitute-an arcuate multi-part or sectional throat. Each jaw may be provided with a cap-receiving recess 7, adjacent the lower extremity thereof. The upper wall of this recess is formed by a rib 8 which is adapted for engagement with portions of the edge of the channeled iiange of the cap during the course of the capping operation, the said rib serving to unroll the guttered or rolled up flange of the stopper, and to wipe it down firmly into engagement with thelp commonly/provided around the mouths of bottles adapted to be closed by bottle caps, and the like. The edge or ridge 9 of this rib is preferably rounded to facilitate passage of the surface of the cap flange thereover, and the upper side of the rib is also preferably sloped as at l0, to facilitate withdrawal of the capped head of a bottle after the stopper has been applied. The three blocks 5 are preferably adapted to abut against each other to form a substantially continuous throat and when so disposed have, as a whole, the form of a hollow truncated cone, of which tapers generally inwardly and upwardly, and the interior surface of which may be substantially cylindrical save for the rib 8, above referred to. This frusto-conical ring formation is received into a recess 11, of similar contour, in a sleeve 6. For convenience of manufacture, the outer surface of the jaw blocks may be recessed, as at 13, forming bearing ribs 14, 15, at the respective upper and lower edges thereof.

The cavity or recess 1l is slightly deeper than the aw blocks so that a clearance of, let us say, one thirty-second to three sixtyfourths of an inch is provided between the under surface of the jaw blocks and the upper surface of a bottle `guide 16, when the jaw-block or throat structure is in its uppermost position.

The member 6 preferably is apertured entirely therethrough, the hole 17 therein4 being in the present instance approximately the same diameter as the recess in the interior of the throat structure. The usual head casing 18 may be used in connection with the foregoing parts, the member or sleeve 6 being received into a preferably cylindrical recess 19, corresponding in contour to said sleeve; the upper extremity of the sleeve abutting against a ledge 20. in the interior wall of the casing 18.

The upper surface of the guide 16 bears against the under surface of'the sleeve 6 and holds the latter in position, being itself in turn held by a nut 21 which is threaded onto the lower end of the casing 18. For this purpose the nut 21 is provided with an inwardly directed annular flange 22 which clamps against an outwardly directed flange 23 around the upper edge of the bottle guide 16. The latter preferably is not made -to fit the nut neatly except upon the surface clamped in the manner just described, since inaccurate cutting of the threads upon the nut and casing is apt to throw the respective axes of the parts out of alinement, when assembled. Hence the guide is made to fit somewhat loosely into the nut, but the upper surface of this bottle guide may be provided with a table like projection .24 which projects into the recess 11 and neatly engages the lower edge thereof. When therefore nut 21 is drawn up the bottle ide is accurately centered with respect to the throat. This bottle guide has a slot 25 therethrough adapted for the reception' vof the end of a stopper-delivering chute 26. The latter is held firmly in this slot by means of a pin 27, withdrawal of which permits the chute to be disconnected from the exterior surface the diameter of .in the upper side of the bottle guide,

will breakin the throat if allowed to pene-v trate so far, said bottle will break within the orifice 29, where the broken glass may drop directly down, fragments from collecting inthe stopper chute end, or back of, under, or above the jaw blocks; which would impair the action of the mechanism.

The chute 26 may have a hole 30 therein,j

directly over the orifice 29; hole 30 preferably being of the same diameter| as said orifice. The width of the groove 31 in the chute is preferably but slightly larger than the caps 1 to be delivered therethrough, but the hole 30 is of smaller diameter than said groove so that the stoppers cannot pass downwardly therethrough until they have been deformed by the throat.

The chute is covered by a thin sheet or strip 32; and a circular aperture 33 is provided in this cover of substantially the same radius as that of the recesses 7 defined by,

the respective jaw blocks, and the hole 34,

opens into the slot 25.

1t is preferable, but not absolutely essential, to provide a plunger 35 within the sleeve 6, said plunger being freely displaceable longitudinally of said sleeve and guided thereby.y This plunger extends down normally through the jaw blocks and has a reduced lower extremity which passes through the throat down almost into engagement with the bottle cap 1 when such cap has been emplaced in alinement with the throat axis. Sufficient clearance should be provided, however, between the lower end of the plunger and the body of the cap to permit the cap to so position itself freely. The plunger may have ahead 36 adapted for engagement with the upper surface of the sleeve 6.

The operation of follows: Assuming that a cap is disposed within the bottle guide, as shown in Fig. 1; the plunger 35 will be held by gravity in its lowermost position, as will also be the jaw blocks 5. 1f now a bottle head be introduced into the bottle guide and relative movement, toward each other, between the bottle and the head be eected by any suitable means, the lip of said bottle will enter the cap and drive the same up against the plunger. This tends to seat the cap evenly and firmly upon the head of the bottle, and

The bottom of the guidel which thus preventing glass the capping head is as the pressure of the yielding plunger maintains this relationship until the upturned flange 37 of the cap has engaged the under side of each of the ribs or projections 8. As the bottle head is driven farther up into the head, the cap flange lifts the jaw blocks by reason of this engagement, and by reason of the wedge action between these blocks and the encircling sleeve 6, said blocks are driven radially inwardly toward their innermost positions, if not already there, and are firmly held in such positions while the head continues toadvance into the constricted throat so formed. The curled up flange is unrolled downwardly about the lip of the bottle in a fashion similar to the manner of applying a new glove to the hand of a wearer, the glove being first reversed and then unrolled down over the hand. The stopper flange may be said to be reversed, being upturned, and as it is unrolled by the pressure applied to its edge, the inner and under wall thereof is urged strongly in toward and into substantial conformity with the head or lip at the mouth of the bottle, edecting a very tight closure. The flange may be corrugated as shown, and when substantially completely unrolled by the action of the throat it presents the appearance shown in Fig. el. In said ligure the extreme edge of the cap is just passing approximately the smallest part of the throat. After the cap passes the throat, it together with the bottle head to which it has been distance into the capping head, according to the height of the bottle being capped. The

plunger 6, of course, merely rests upon the cap while the latter' is being applied.

lVhen the bottle moves downwardly or the capping head upwardly, as the case may be, the throat offers no resistance to such action nor does it tend to dislodge or loosen the cap, since immediately after said cap has been applied in the manner described, the jaw blocks drop freely down upon'the bottle guide and away therefrom. As the cap flange in descending wipes against the ribs S, the jaw blocks are merely driven radially out by the engagement of the now down turned edge of said flange with the sloping upper sides of said ribs. This outward movement of the jaw blocks is however only very slight, as the ange of the cap tends to stay practically exactly where it is put by the throat, owing to the unrolling action by which said flange is applied. This unrolling action is believed to be distinctly novel and the present apparatus is admirably adapted to effectively apply Stoppers of this type. I am aware, however, that many modifications thereof may be made within the scope of my invention and hence desire to be limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

The number of parts in the preferred form of device has been reduced to a minimum and the said parts may be disassembled and assembled most readily.

I have stated that bottles of dierent heights may freely extend up into the head in varying amounts. This is a most desirable feature, as the relative movement between the support for the bottle, or table as it is termed in the trade, and the capping head is usually a determined one, provided that no bottle is in place upon said support or table. It is customary to provide some formof what isknown in the art as a compensator to allow for differences in the heights of bottles, within certain limits, and also to allow for differences-in the size of the bottle head; the latter especially when tapered throats are used in applying the caps. The unrolling of the flange of the present stopper in the manner described effects a tight closure of the bottle regardless of moderate variations in the diameter of the head or of like variations in the depth of the bead or lip, while at the same time'the throat is maintained of sufficient size to accommodate the large headed bottles which are apt to be encountered in practice. In substantially every case therefore if a bottle head can pass the orifice 29 of the bottle guide, it may be capped safely, and that without the need of any form of compensating device whatsoever. This results in a simplification of the capping machine as a whole and also reduces theweight and cost thereof.

Having described my invention, I claim:

A capping head for applying Stoppers to bottles, which comprises a sectional cap seal ing annular die, the outer annular surface of which is conical, a retaining frame for said die having a corresponding conical surface, said die being movable axially to a limited extent with respect to the frame, whereby the diameter of the die is altered, said die having upon its inner surface an annular bead provided with under and upper inclined surfaces, the under surface and the face of the bead being adapted to act upon the flange of the bottle cap whereby the latter will be bent downward and then inward and the cap will thereafter act upon the upper surface of the bead to expand the die and permit of `the removal of the bottle therefrom.

In witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

ToiMi A. NIssINEN.

Vitnesses:

WALDo M. CHAHN, WM. M. S'rocKBRiDGE. 

